This invention relates generally to hoppers and more specifically to floor recovery systems for use with abrasive blasting systems.
Hoppers are well known in the art. Generally, hoppers are funnel shaped receptacles used for the temporary storage and delivery of materials. An opening in the bottom of the hopper allows the materials to be dispensed or delivered as needed. Hoppers have long been used for storage and delivery of materials such as coal, grains, ore, gravel, abrasive blasting media, and many other materials.
A conventional hopper connected to a conveyance tube is shown in FIG. 1. The operation of the hopper and conveyance tube are quite simple. Materials are shoveled into the hopper which gradually delivers the materials into the top of the conveyance tube via the outlet opening in the bottom of the hopper. A blower or vacuum means(not shown) induces airflow in the conveyance tube thus transporting the materials away from the hopper, through the conveyance tube, and to a desired destination.
One particular application of hoppers is in conjunction with abrasive blasting systems. In abrasive blasting, a gas or liquid under pressure(sometimes referred to as medium) is used to propel material(sometimes referred to as media) through a hose which is directed at a target. This process has long been used for removing paints and other coatings from a surface, removing rust, cutting substrates, and the like.
A result of this process is that large amounts of used media accumulate on the floor of the work area. Since most of this media can be recycled and used again, the media, along with some contaminants, is swept into piles and shoveled into a hopper connected to a conveyance tube as described earlier.
There are at least two disadvantages with this system of recovering used media. First, hoppers and conveyance tubes frequently become clogged. As large amounts of media are shoveled into the hopper, media often builds up in the conveyance tube until the tube is completely blocked. The blockage must be removed before more media can be processed, thus causing delays and down time of the system. Secondly, shoveling media into a hopper by hand is an inefficient means of conveying media from the floor and into the hopper.
Clearly, there exists a need for an improved floor recovery/hopper system which does not clog and does not require material to be shoveled into a recovery hopper by hand.